Superintendent Dan Dozier has announced the purchase of 19.8 acres off of Highway 94 and the end of Mercantile Drive in St. Charles for the construction of the new elementary school.

Voters approved about $13 million for a new elementary school in April 2007 in the southern portion of the district. Initially, the building will house preschoolers through first grade beginning in 2010. Dozier is currently working with an architect to design a master plan of the site. Construction could begin in May. 

Orchard Farm’s enrollment is the smallest of the five St. Charles County districts. But developments along Highway 370, such as Charlestowne and New Town, have brought thousands of new homes into the southern part of the district in recent years. The entire district extends from the northern end of St. Charles to the Mississippi River, and includes the towns of Portage des Sioux and West Alton.

The number of students in kindergarten through 12th grade is about 1,430, according to the Missouri School Directory.

This is the largest number of students in the district since 1992, when it had 1,459 students. Population in the area dropped after the flood of 1993. In 1994, the district’s enrollment was 965, but it has gradually increased since then.

The biggest growth has been in the elementary school, where the number of students jumped from 586 to 652 last year. There are about 700 elementary students this year.